Before the big move though, (while Nick was off at work bringing home the bacon,) Heather took the opportunity to relax! She spent Tuesday on a tour of downtown Odense with a friend who pointed out all the important things one should know about the town...where the best coffee shops are; what bakeries are worth trying out; which shops have the best selection of cheeses, chocolates, wine, etc.; and what restaurants are good/great or not worth trying. She also showed her several cute little areas that are a bit off the beaten track and good places to bring out of town visitors (hint hint people). After lunch and peeking in a few more shops, they parted ways so Heather could get home to make dinner for her hard working hubby. All day Tuesday, the anticipation of the following day's delivery of the sea shipment grew. By bed time, Nick and Heather felt like kids on Christmas Eve. We hardly slept, but after a long night of tossing and turning, and repeatedly checking the clock, Wednesday finally came!
At 8am Wednesday, the movers were knocking at the door. Heather spent the morning directing the placement of boxes and furniture and unwrapping everything! Nick surprised Heather by swinging by the around noon to check on the progress and deliver much needed nourishment! After enjoying lunch together, Nick headed back to work while Heather unpacked EVERYTHING so the movers could take away all the boxes and packing materials. By about 3pm, after unloading everything for the apartment and reloading all the empty boxes, the movers left to deliver the last of our shipment. Nick shipped his home office furniture to use in his new office. While Nick situated his office, Heather was busy putting things away and assembling furniture at home.
Wednesday ended up being a day where you truly understand the importance of communication and even appreciate having a cell phone. While Heather was working away at the apartment assuming Nick would be coming back to check things out, Nick was sitting in the car at the hotel waiting for Heather to return with the hotel key. After about an hour of this, Nick went to check on Heather at the apartment, and Heather finally figured out Nick wasn't coming and headed to the hotel. Oops! By about 9, we were both back at the hotel, exhausted and ready for bed.
The following day (after thoroughly communicating the day's plans), Nick returned to the office and Heather returned to the apartment to unpack. Heather had grand aspirations for the day. She was going to get the bed set up in master bedroom before going back to Odense to pick up the dining room furniture that was purchased a few weekends before, unloading it back at the apartment and heading back to the hotel with enough time to get cleaned up for dinner out with Nick, and a few of his American coworkers here on a trip, Chris and Vince.Well, best laid plans often go awry, and Heather's certainly did on Thursday. While washing the new sheets, the washing machine kept shutting off. After a bit of detective work, Heather informed the property manager that the washing machine was flipping the fuse each time it went into the spin cycle. He (somewhat uncharacteristically) responded immediately and had a new washer installed that same day. This however meant that instead of picking up furniture, Heather was suck at the apartment waiting for the maintenance man. Once the new washing machine was installed and the sheets were successfully being washed, Heather left for the hotel very ready for a meal cooked by someone else! The four of us went to a cute little cafe with stained glass windows offering a few Danish dishes and a good selection of beer. This delicious meal was of course followed by ice cream and a wander through town.
On Friday, Heather packed up a car load of things from the hotel (such as Bella's kennel, most of the clothes and shoes, and a majority of the food) and delivered it to the apartment. She spend the better part of the morning unpacking before heading to IKEA to purchase a couple of down comforters (one for each of them) and duvet covers. This was followed by a trip to the hardware store for a few tupperware containers to store Bella's food and winter clothes in. From there, she went to pick up furniture and finally got back to the apartment. After several trips up and down the stairs to unload the car, she was able to start the unpacking efforts again. Friday evening brought about our first visitors, Vince and Chris. They popped by to see the place before heading to Copenhagen for their return flight. It also brought Nick back the the apartment for the first time since the movers were there on Wednesday. He was quite pleased, and a bit surprised, by Heather's progress (Little did he know that most things were just randomly shoved in wardrobes and cabinets)! The vital things were set up though. Most importantly, the balcony was unpacked and staged so we always had a relaxing place to go away from the mess of boxes, piles, and things. The other important area was the master bedroom. That room was box free; the clothes were mostly unpacked; and the bed was put together and ready for sleeping in. After the guests left, Nick and Heather sat on the balcony for a bit relaxing then headed back to Odense for dinner and the last night at the hotel.
Saturday morning, Nick and Heather woke up early, packed the remaining items at the hotel, and checked out. From there we went home, unpacked the car, dropped off Bella, and then headed to the hardware store to get some supplies for hanging the lights and our pictures. Before returning to home to work, we made an important stop at the local pastry shop to pick up a sweetie and some coffee.
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| Mmm, pastry |
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| Cheers to our first day in our new home! |
After our nourishment (if you can call sugar and caffeine nourishment), we went to work hanging blinds and curtains on several of the windows and unpacking and organizing more. Nick borrowed a hammerdrill from work and his friend loaned us a drill as well. All the walls, interior and exterior are concrete, so hanging things up is slow going. We are trying to remain patient and only hang a few things hung per day so we can really enjoy our weekends exploring and relaxing. With this in mind, Nick, Heather and Bella set off for an afternoon walk to explore the area a bit. We are constantly amazed by the number of jellyfish in the water, and the number of people in the water who pay the jellyfish no mind (apparently only the bright red ones sting).
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| I spy with my little eye, something squishy... How many jellies can you count? |
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| Art. Notice the seagull at the top of the crane. |
For dinner, we tried out an Asian restaurant just downtown near the pedestrian only zone and were quite pleased with their offerings. We had a "Thai Menu" 5 course meal. It started with a chicken soup that was excellent. This was followed by sweat and sour chicken and a cucumber salad. Next came a duck and noodle dish (Heather's first time trying duck - thumbs up!). Then came the main course, a beef and vegetable curry. Just when we thought we couldn't eat another bite, out come the 3 scoop banana split. We aren't clear on how exactly these are a traditional Thai dessert, but no complaints! The strawberry ice cream was amazing.
Sunday was much like Saturday, unpacking, hanging some things, mounting our headboard. The key rack Nick brought back from India and the cuckoo clock from our trip to Germany got hung, however the pendulum and tree topper are missing from the clock. We also mounted our headboard and hung a mirror in the entry way. Additionally, the rest of the clothes got unpacked, the winter clothes got repacked and put into storage, and his and her coat/shoe closets got arranged. We grilled chicken for dinner on the balcony with our little smokey joe and enjoyed a beautiful evening.
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| Sunset view from the balcony. Home sweet home. |
Even though we got a lot accomplished and had a few very peaceful moments of relaxation, the weekend flew by much quicker than it should have. Monday brought more shopping for Heather and, of course, more work for Nick. In her opinion, Heather's best purchase of the day was a heater for the patio. Nick however may think his new grill tools were the best purchase. Heather also bought a few things we discovered we needed after living in the apartment for a few days, such as a shower curtain, bath mat, and some caddies to hang on the shower wall. Nick and Heather ended week 5 by enjoying some time on the patio, basking in the warmth of the heater.
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